


Felicity's Secret Scandal

by FriendvilleFan



Category: American Girl Dolls - All Media Types, American Girls: Felicity - Various Authors, Felicity - An American Girl Adventure (2005)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24827512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriendvilleFan/pseuds/FriendvilleFan
Summary: Felicity Merriman's parents are sending her off to finishing school in Boston. At first, Felicity resists but after the nice lady taking here there admits that they aren't actually going to finishing school but rather time traveling to the future Felicity jumps at the chance. The only problem is saying goodbye to her friend Ben.
Kudos: 2





	Felicity's Secret Scandal

Felicity’s Secret Scandal  
(Or how Jessica tricked Felicity’s parents into giving her up and convinced Felicity to be adopted by her)  
Williamsburg, Virginia August 1776  
“Lissie!”  
Felicity ignored the annoying voice calling her and kept running down the cobblestone street beside her friend Ben. Even though she hiked her skirt up as far as she dared, up to her knees, the blasted petticoats holding her back made it so she could never dream of keeping up.  
“One of these days, Ben, one of these days I swear I’ll-----”  
Ben turned around and grinned at her. “I didn’t think a lady was allowed to swear.”  
Felicity scowled and kept running so that she soared past him. “I’m no lady.”  
“Tis a good thing then or I wouldn’t be allowed to do this.” Ben came running up behind her and scooped her up by the waist. He spun her around as Felicity squealed in delight.  
“Lissie!”  
Felicity again ignored the voice as she tackled Ben to the ground, and they began mercilessly tickling one another.  
“Felicity Merriman!”  
Finally, Ben pulled away. “I think someone wants your attention.”  
Felicity sighed in frustration. A strange guest had arrived at their doorstep that morning and she wanted to speak privately with Mother and Father. Rules of proper society dictated that both Felicity and Ben be in the parlor too, since they were part of the household and old enough to be included in grown up visits, but the strange lady was adamant that she only speak to Mother and Father privately. Felicity didn’t get a good look at the woman nor did she really care to. As long as she was dismissed, she wasn’t wasting any time in sticking around lest she should be forced into doing something polite and proper.  
So, Felicity dared Ben to a race. Running wasn’t proper for a girl, but Felicity didn’t care and neither did Ben. Lately, secretly, when no proper adult was around Ben and Felicity had been challenging each other to races. With his long legs and breeches Ben should have won every time, but sometimes Felicity won too. She has a sneaking suspicion that Ben was letting her win for his lame excuses about being unusually tired out from the day’s work just didn’t add up. If only she didn’t have to wear a skirt all the time! Then maybe Felicity could win for real.  
And now Felicity’s prim and proper sister Nan was policing Felicity in Mother’s absence. Felicity hated being called out by her little sister. “Felicity Merriman!” Nan shouted. “What on earth are doing? Playing with a grown man in the street like that! Tisn’t seemly!”  
“Tis not a man,” said Felicity. “Tis just Ben.”  
Nan glowered. “A young lady----”  
“This fine creature here assured me that she’s no lady,” said Ben. “If she was---”  
“What do you want Nan?” said Felicity. “Besides wanting to ruin my every chance for fun.”  
“I only want to help you, Lissie----”  
“Well, don’t.” Felicity grumbled.  
“I’ll tell Mother.”  
“You wouldn’t dare.”  
“Try me.”  
Ben put a hand on Felicity’s arm. “Easy girl. If your Mother forbids running, then we’ll find something else to do.”  
That’s what Felicity loved about her friend Ben. He never gave up. And he wouldn’t let them totally turn her into a lady.  
“Did the visitor leave yet?” Felicity asked Nan.  
“No.”  
“Good. Then leave us be to finish our game.”  
“I was just trying to help,” Nan mumbled. “They’re talking about you, ya know.”  
Felicity gasped. “Why, Nan, a lady should never spy or eavesdrop.” Ben chuckled quietly while Nan’s face flushed scarlet. Then Felicity grew suspicious. “What about me?”  
Nan shrugged. “The whole conversation is about you. You’re the whole reason she’s here.”  
“Well, what did they say?”  
“I just thought you should know.” Nan turned away and slipped back inside.  
Felicity tried not to let fear consume her. She put on a brave face for Ben, but she didn’t have to for her friend could guess where her thoughts were going. “Twill be alright, Lissie,” Ben squeezed her hand.  
Felicity swallowed hard. “Thanks, Ben. I think I have some eavesdropping to do.” She turned away from Ben and ran to the house. Slowly, carefully, she tiptoed down the hall and stood with an ear cocked at the parlor door.  
“I don’t know, Martha,” Father was saying. “Tis an awfully big decision to make in a moment.”  
“Well, I think it’s the best thing we can do for her,” said Mother.  
“This is our little Lissie we’re talking about,” said Father.  
“Exactly! Edward, just think of what it could do for us. The headaches it could spare me. She’ll come away knowing how to be a proper-----”  
“Excuse me,” the strange visitor interrupted, “but I think someone is at the door.”  
Both Mother and Father turned to see Felicity in the doorway. Felicity cringed and tried to hide in the growing late afternoon shadows in the hall. The strange woman had a fancy pair of spectacles, the fanciest pair Felicity had ever seen, and she had a strange hairstyle with little fringes of hair covering her forehead. Felicity swore she saw a turkey flickering in and out of her skirts, but anyone else watching would have said Felicity was off her rocker to even suggest such a thing.  
“Miss Felicity Merriman!” Mother gasped. “Do not hide away from our lovely guest like some common criminal. Get in here and introduce yourself.”  
Felicity gulped down a big lump of fear and annoyance. She normally wasn’t afraid of strangers, but this woman unnerved her for she seemed a little off or different from everyone else here in the Thirteen Colonies. Felicity entered the room and curtsied clumsily in front of the stranger. The woman nodded and with a twinkle in her eye said, “I am Miss Jessica. And I am very delighted to have finally met you.”  
Felicity’s confusion was evident on her face. “What brings you to Williamsburg, Ma’am?”  
Mrs. Merriman beamed and put her hands on Felicity’s shoulders. “You do, darling. Isn’t it wonderful?”  
Felicity was still puzzled and growing more alarmed by the minute.  
Mr. Merriman nodded towards Miss Jessica. “This lady is from the most prestigious finishing school for young ladies in Boston. She has traveled all this way, alone I might add, just to see you and take her back to the school with you.”  
“Finishing school?” Felicity echoed. The word came crashing down like a death sentence, like a noose that only needed a little more tightening before the end came. “What about me needs finishing?”  
“Everything,” snapped Mrs. Merriman. “If you refuse to learn at home with me then I have no choice but to send you off to a finishing school.”  
“How ever did you hear of our dear Lissie?” said Mr. Merriman.  
Miss Jessica smiled. “I am great friends with Miss Manderley. She raves about you; it was actually on her recommendation that I enroll you in my school.”  
“Praise be!” Mrs. Merriman exclaimed. “Thank you for this opportunity, I am sure Miss Merriman won’t squander it.”  
Miss Jessica smiled. “Oh, I know she won’t. Now, let’s be off Miss Felicity dear.”  
“Hold on just a moment,” Mr. Merriman held up a hand as a signal for everyone to pause. “We haven’t yet agreed. I heard trouble is brewing in Boston.”  
“Oh,” replied Miss Jessica. “That’s not an issue anymore. We sent those British dogs packing months ago. Boston is actually the safest place to be right now, what with loyalist and British troops flooding in this direction. Yorktown, that town nearby to here, will be a far more dangerous place than Boston in the days to come. Don’t you worry, sir, your daughter, in fact all the girls at finishing school are in very safe hands with me.”  
“But I’ll die at finishing school!” Felicity blurted out.  
Mr. and Mrs. Merriman gasped at Felicity’s outburst.  
“Physically I might be safe,” continued Felicity, “but my spirit will die. And that’s no better than the way Jiggy Nye crushed Penny. It’s no better than the way the British treat us. Please, for the love of all that is good and holy, please don’t send me away!”  
Mrs. Merriman struggled to contain her anger with her daughter. “With an attitude like that you’re definitely going! Pack your bags right now missy and be off with you!”  
Mr. Merriman laid a hand on his wife’s arm. “Now, Martha, don’t be rash. Let’s think---”  
“That girl has got to go,” snapped Mrs. Merriman. “If she think she can change the world then by all means let that fancy finishing school in Boston crush her spirit. Somebody ought to do it!”  
“Tut, tut,” said Miss Jessica. “There will be no crushing of anyone’s spirit at my finishing school. In fact, we aim for girls to thrive and let their spirit soar, within the bounds of reason of course. Miss Merriman’s roommate is to be a smart and very proper girl named Miss Samantha Parkington who loved teatime with her grandmother. I think she could testify to the fact that no one is getting their spirit crushed at our school and she will be a good influence on Felicity. Besides, I think Miss Felicity will be a good companion for her other roommate Gwendolyn, she’s descended from royalty and that is as proper as you can get. Yes, Miss Felicity will have a lot of fun with Miss Gwendolyn.”  
“Fun at finishing school?” Felicity snorted. “Yeah, right.”  
“Descended from royalty?” Mrs. Merriman nearly fainted. “Edward, our Felicity will be rubbing elbows with royalty! There’s no better way to get a leg up in fine, high society.”  
Mr. Merriman grunted. “Getting rid of royalty is the goal of this revolution.”  
“Please, Edward,” begged Mrs. Merriman. “This is the best possible future we could give to our Felicity.”  
Miss Jessica grinned. “Best future indeed.”  
Mr. Merriman looked back and forth between the eager face of his wife and the desolate face of his daughter. He sighed. “Oh, very well. Even though I shall miss my dear Lissie very much this seems to be what is best for her. Yes, Felicity will go to that fancy finishing school in Boston and learn to thrive as a lady in society.”  
“Yes!” cried Mrs. Merriman. “Oh, thank you, Edward. I pray she won’t disgrace us anymore than she already has.”  
Miss Jessica shook Mr. Merriman’s hand. “Yes, thank you. Like I said earlier, you daughter is in very good hands with me. And I promise that you will see her for a few visits here and there.”  
“NO!” shouted Felicity. “No! I won’t go and you can’t make me!” Felicity turned and ran out of the house as fast as her legs could carry her. She ran to the stable and threw open the door to Penny’s stall so fast Penny spooked. Felicity muttered a kind word to her horse and then vaulted over her side bareback. Felicity kicked Penny into a gallop, but before they even made it to the door Ben was there.  
He held up his hand as Penny reared up on her hind legs. “Whoa there, easy girl.” He grinned, but then noticed the look on Felicity’s face. “Ut-oh, I take it the stranger’s visit wasn’t pleasant?”  
Felicity scowled. She only had to say two words for her dearest friend to understand the depth of turmoil in her heart. “Boston. Finishing school.”  
Ben’s face fell. He had always feared that the Merrimans might consider sending Felicity away and now it seemed his greatest fear was being realized. He stepped aside and Felicity was off riding like the wind.  
Felicity rode Penny hard. Her face was blotching and red as angry, anguished tears lashed down her cheeks. Who did they think they were deciding her future without giving her any say in it at all? Who were they to force her into being the very think she detested the most, a respectable lady? Felicity was mad at the world for not giving her a place and a voice for being a girl. She was mad at history for making her live through a war about freedom yet never giving her any free choice of her own. Felicity kept riding through meadows and over streams, across valleys and past big Southern plantations. As she saw the slaves laboring in the fields she felt as though she didn’t have it any better than them. Land of the free? Not a chance. There was no freedom to be found here. Not for slaves, not for horses, and certainly not for women.  
Felicity suddenly realized that Penny was breathing hard. She slowed her to a walk. A few feet up ahead, Miss Jessica appeared in a puff of smoke. Felicity blinked and rubbed her eyes. That wasn’t possible. One minute nobody was there and the next Miss Jessica appeared out of nowhere and reached up to grab Penny’s halter.  
“What do you want?” Felicity growled.  
Miss Jessica didn’t speak for a moment as she petted Penny.  
Felicity grew impatient. “I said, what do you want?”  
Again, Miss Jessica didn’t speak. Felicity wanted to run her down and keep riding, but then Jessica said, “I know you don’t want to go to finishing school. So, I am going to tell you something that I hope will convince you to come with me anyway.”  
“There is nothing you can say to me that will make me want to come with you.”  
Miss Jessica arched an eyebrow. “Oh, really? Then how about this: I am not taking you to finishing school.”  
Felicity’s mouth fell open. “What?”  
“I am not taking you to finishing school,” Miss Jessica repeated. “I am taking you to the year 2007, a year where girls wear pants like boys and where they can be or do anything they set their minds to. I am taking you to a magical place to be adopted into a family of time travelers where yes, there is a girl named Samantha Parkington who drank tea with her grandmother but that was back in the year 1904. And yes, there is a girl named Gwendolyn who is descended from royalty but it’s elf royalty not humans. You’ll learn lots of new stuff but most of it has to do with electricity and modern inventions and magic. You’ll wear pants and carry guns to your heart’s content. You’re a girl ahead of your time, a girl who could never be happy trying to belong here in colonial times so I am doing you a favor by bringing you into the 21st century.”  
“2007?!” Felicity couldn’t fathom it. It all sounded too fantastic, too absurd to be real. Maybe it wasn’t finishing school they were sending her off too, maybe it was the insane asylum where doctors tortured victims for the sake of making them conform. Felicity shuddered.  
“I can see you don’t believe me,” said Miss Jessica. “So, I am prepared to show you something.” With the snap of her fingers she was no longer wearing an ankle length gown but rather jeans and a t-shirt. Felicity gasped, but the show wasn’t over yet. Jessica pointed at the sky and a giant rectangle opened up. Inside the rectangle images flashed across as if it were a big TV though Felicity had no concept of TV yet. There were metal boxes on wheels zooming in circles around with people dressed like Jessica flying around. “Ta-dah!” said Jessica. “2007, your new home. So, you wanna come?”  
“Oh, yes!” squealed Felicity.  
Jessica pressed a big red button and the rectangle with fantastic images disappeared. She snapped her fingers and was again dressed colonially. “But we cannot tell your parents the truth about where I am really taking you to live. To them, you’re just going to finishing school in Boston 1776, not Boston 2007 with cars and trucks and TVs. If you want to come with me, you must keep this moment a secret between the two of us.”  
Felicity paused. She didn’t like the idea of deceiving her family, but she realized that Jessica was right. It was the only way. They could never understand and if they could understand time travel then they sure as heck wouldn’t send their daughter to a place like that. Felicity nodded. “Our secret. Please, let me go with you!”  
“Well, you’ve certainly changed your tune.” Miss Jessica smiled. “Now let’s get back to your family to say your proper goodbyes. Then we’ll board the train.”  
“What’s a train?” Felicity asked.  
“You’ll see,” Jessica said mysteriously. She snapped her fingers and suddenly they were back home in Williamsburg. Felicity watered Penny and put her back in the stable for what was perhaps the last time. She wondered if she would ever see her beloved horse again or Elizabeth or Ben. . . . .  
Future. The mere thought of 2007 gave that word a whole new meaning. She would miss certain parts of life in colonial Williamsburg, but in the long run it would be best for her to go. Felicity ran into the house yelling, “Mother! Father! I want to go to finishing school! Oh, please send me with Miss Jessica! I have to, I simply must go with her!”  
The whole Merriman household rushed to meet Felicity in the front entrance. “What’s this?” said Mr. Merriman. “My daughter actually wants to go to finishing school?”  
Felicity nodded. “More than anything else in the world.”  
Mrs. Merriman got teary eyed. “Maybe there is hope for her yet.”  
“Oh, Felicity,” gushed Nan. “You’re so lucky!”  
Ben crossed his arms and grunted. Felicity cringed as she tried and failed to meet his gaze. But the rest of the family was so aflutter at Felicity’s sudden change of heart that none of them noticed Ben’s surly attitude. Mrs. Merriman, Nan, and the servants were in a tizzy trying to pack Felicity’s trunks although Miss Jessica assured them that there was absolutely no need for Felicity to pack anything. Mr. Merriman hugged his daughter one last time before heading out to meet with fellow patriots at the tavern. Ben stormed off in a huff, and Felicity followed.  
“Ben!” Felicity shouted.  
He didn’t stop walking.  
“Ben!” Felicity hiked up her skirts and hurried after him. “Ben, please. What’s the matter?”  
Ben stopped. “What’s the matter?! What’s the matter?! You’re going to finishing school!”  
“So?” said Felicity. “You’re supposed to be happy for me, happy that I have this opportunity to become a great lady.”  
Ben snorted. “Since when do you care about being a lady? That’s not the Felicity I know and love.”  
Felicity froze. “You love me?”  
Ben turned red. “As a sister.”  
“Oh,” said Felicity. “I’ll miss you.”  
“And I you. But you can’t go!”  
“You’re going off to war soon anyway,” said Felicity. “What will you care if I’m gone?”  
Ben’s hands curled into fists as he struggled to control his temper. “I care because they’ll try and tame you, they’ll try and break your fiery spirit.”  
“I won’t let them,” Felicity said softly.  
“You say that now, but it will be impossible not to.” Ben ran his fingers through his hair. “We both know that finishing school will be the death of you. They’ll turn you into a fine lady just like everyone else in this blasted society. If I wanted a fine lady, I could have any girl the colonies but I don’t when I have you who is so vastly different from anyone else----”  
“This particular finishing school is the best option for my future,” said Felicity.  
Ben sighed in aggravation. “I can’t understand why you’re suddenly all gung ho about it when a few minutes ago you were just as upset as I am right now.”  
“I’m not going to finishing school,” Felicity said without thinking. Remembering the secret she shared with Miss Jessica, Felicity quickly clamped her hands over her mouth.  
“What?” said Ben. “What do you mean. . . . .?”  
“I can’t tell you,” Felicity said miserably.  
“Why can’t you tell me? We’re friends, right? And we’ve shared plenty of secrets before.”  
“Not this time.” Felicity shook her head. “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”  
Ben took her hands in his. “Try me.”  
Felicity took a deep breath and let all the words out in one big whoosh. “Miss Jessica is a time traveler who is taking me to the year 2007, where girls were breeches and use guns, to be adopted into a family of other time travelers. I’m going to ride a train, whatever that is, and learn how to play with some metal boxes on wheels called cars and magic.”  
Ben dropped her hands. “You were right. I don’t believe you.”  
“Ben, please, give me a chance to explain.”  
Ben backed away slowly. “Maybe finishing school isn’t the institution that they should be sending you to.”  
“Ben, wait! It’s true, it’s all true. I saw it all. I’m not going to be forced to be the lady we both don’t want me to be----”  
Ben didn’t even turn around as he called over his shoulder, “Farewell, Felicity. Godspeed.”  
“No! Ben. . . .” Felicity slumped down into the dirt and cried.  
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Miss Jessica staring down the lane after Ben. “Don’t worry about him.”  
“But he’s the best boy I’ve ever met.” Felicity hiccupped as she sobbed. “And he’s my friend. And I love----”  
“He’ll come around someday. I have no doubt that you will see him again. Now, let’s be off, shall we?” Miss Jessica held out a hand. “Are you ready to step into the future?”  
Felicity picked herself up and dusted herself off. She wiped her nose on her apron and tried to block her last conversation with Ben from her brain. She didn’t know if or when she would ever see him again, but she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she had much better chances of belonging in 2007 than she did in 1776. Felicity took Miss Jessica’s outstretched hand. “I am so beyond ready.”


End file.
